Apple Pay To Get 38% Retailers Onboard By 2015: SURVEY

In just a few months, Apple Pay has garnered enough popularity to threaten the dominating position of the most widely used payment system, PayPal

Apple Pay will be supported by 38% of large retailers in North America by the end of this year, according to a survey by Boston Retail Partners. Also the payment service from the iPhone maker will be the most widely used platform among large retailers, claim the researchers who conducted the survey.

PayPal’s position in danger?

Boston Retail Partners conducted the survey in November and December 2014, and the results were released in mid-January, according to VentureBeat.

As per the BRP survey, around 8% of large retailers in the U.S. already support Apple Pay, and this does not include the 6 million or so small retailers in the U.S not covered by the survey. The survey also finds that 56% of big retailers believe they will be supporting the Apple pay service by the end of 2017. Presently, PayPal is the most popular payment system with 13% of retailers supporting it.

More retailers joining Apple Pay

Some of the big retailers that already support Apple Pay are Chevron, DuaneReade, FootLocker, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Meijer, Nike, Panera Bread, Subway, Walgreens, Wegman’s and Whole Foods. The latest addition to the list is JetBlue Airways, which will allow customers to buy food and other amenities during their flights. Initially the service will be rolled out on transcontinental flights from New York City to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in March, the service will be expanded to more flights. For the smooth adoption of Apple Pay, more than 3,500 JetBlue crew members will get iPad Minis and NFC-enabled cases.

During the company’s earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook, acknowledging the growing popularity of the payment service, said the merchants have been showing strong interest in it.

“Given that we launched in October, I’m unbelievably shocked, positively shocked, at how many merchants were able to implement Apple Pay during the holiday,” Cook added.

Author: Aman JainAman is MBA (Finance) with an experience on both Marketing and Finance side. He has worked as a Risk Analyst for AIR Worldwide, and is currently leading VeRa FinServ, a Financial Research firm. Favorite pastimes include watching science fiction movies, reviewing tech gadgets, playing PC games and cricket. - Email him at amanjain@valuewalk.com